Ceratophyllum

Ceratophyllum is a cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants including four accepted living species in 2016,[2] commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions. It is the only extant genus in the family Ceratophyllaceae,[3] itself the only extant family in the order Ceratophyllales.[4] They are usually called coontails or hornworts, although hornwort is also used for unrelated plants of the division Anthocerotophyta.

Ceratophyllum
Ceratophyllum submersum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Ceratophyllales
Family: Ceratophyllaceae
Genus: Ceratophyllum
L.
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Hydroceratophyllon Ség.
  • Dichotophyllum Moench
  • Revatophyllum Röhl.
  • Fassettia Mavrodiev

Ceratophyllum grows completely submerged, usually, though not always, floating on the surface, and does not tolerate drought. The plant stems can reach 1–3 m in length. At intervals along nodes of the stem they produce rings of bright green leaves, which are narrow and often much-branched. The forked leaves are brittle and stiff to the touch in some species, softer in others. Roots are completely absent and are missing even in the embryonic stage,[5] but sometimes they develop modified leaves with a rootlike appearance, which anchor the plant to the bottom. Also stomata are missing.[6] The flowers are small and inconspicuous, with the male and female flowers on the same plant. In ponds it forms thick buds (turions) in the autumn that sink to the bottom which give the impression that it has been killed by the frost but come spring these will grow back into the long stems slowly filling up the pond.[7][8][9][10]

Taxonomy

Ceratophyllum is considered distinctive enough to warrant its own family, Ceratophyllaceae. It was considered a relative of Nymphaeaceae and included in Nymphaeales in the Cronquist system, but recent research has shown that it is not closely related to Nymphaeaceae or any other extant plant family. Some early molecular phylogenies suggested it was the sister group to all other angiosperms, but more recent research suggests that it is the sister group to the eudicots. The APG III system placed the family in its own order, the Ceratophyllales.[3][11][12] The APG IV system accepts the phylogeny shown below:[4]

angiosperms

Amborellales

Nymphaeales

Austrobaileyales

magnoliids

Chloranthales

monocots

Ceratophyllales

eudicots

Species

The subgeneric division of the genus Ceratophyllum into its appropriately recognized species, subspecies, and varieties is not settled. More than 30 species have been described and published. A narrow interpretation of this work rejects over 24 of these taxa as variants, accepting only 6 species. This narrow interpretation lumps to the point of failing to give these potential species the taxonomic importance of even being named on a subspecific or varietal level. The genus as narrowly defined in this manner contains the following six species:[3][7][8][13][14][1]

  • Ceratophyllum australe Griseb.
  • Ceratophyllum demersum L. (rigid/common hornwort) – cosmopolitan
  • Ceratophyllum echinatum A.Gray (spiny hornwort) – North America
  • Ceratophyllum muricatum Cham. (prickly hornwort) – Near-cosmopolitan
  • Ceratophyllum platyacanthum Cham. – Europe and Asia
  • Ceratophyllum submersum L. (soft/tropical hornwort) – Europe, Middle-East, Central Asia, northern and central Africa, Florida, and Dominican Republic
  • Ceratophyllum tanaiticum Sapjegin

References
  1. "Ceratophyllum L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  2. Christenhusz, M. J. M.; Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1.
  3. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  4. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 181 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1111/boj.12385.
  5. Competition Science Vision nov 2003
  6. Frontiers | Refined Interpretation of the Pistillate Flower in Ceratophyllum Sheds Fresh Light on Gynoecium Evolution in Angiosperms
  7. Flora of China: Ceratophyllum
  8. Flora of North America: Ceratophyllum
  9. Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
  10. Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
  11. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x.
  12. Angiosperm Phylogeny Web: Ceratophyllales
  13. Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ceratophyllum
  14. Flora Europaea: Ceratophyllum
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